Stirrer or conveyer.



D. J. NEVILL.

STIRRBR OR CONVBYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1912.

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

Z SHEETSSHEET 1.

E'wew@r I lIn-i NORRIS PE7ER1 c0 PHOTOLI n10 WASHINGTON, D (L D. J. NBVILL.

STIRRER OR GONVEYBR.

APPLICATION FILED mime, 1912.

,WHED stra ns raa lnr FIG.

DAVID J. nnvrnn, or nnnvnngoonoanno ASEIGNQR TO THE STEARNS-BOGER MANU- rncrmsrne oo., or nnnvnn, cotoianno. A conronarron or COLORADO.

Linnea.

veyers; and I do hereby declare the'followingto be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others make and use the same. This invention relates to conveyers or stir rers and "has particular reference a to devices of this kind which embody a rake for similar element for conveyingorstirringa bodyof material placed in "a trough or on ahearth or table, which, in the case of drying or roasting furnaces, is heated as the material is stirred or conveyed by therake.

The object of the invention is to provide new and improved means for imparting to the-' rake a definite motion which causes it to travel in an orbital path, the lower, run of which table."

In the conveyors covered by my previous applications, Serial Numbers 543,130 and skilled-in the art to which it appertains to %,278 of February 10, 1910 and April 8,

1910, respectively, a jointed parallelogrammic structure is used, certain members of which are constitutedby rakes. This parallelogram is acted upon 'at any point by suitable operating mechanism to cause the whole structure to. have such a movement that the rake travels in an orbital path the lower run of which is pa-rallelto the trough upon which the material is deposited. In the present improved device the parallelogrammic structure is retained but it has been modified so that the entire parallelogram need not be moved;

Broadly it consists of a jointed parallelogrammic structure the lower member of which isconstituted by. the stationary base portion of the device. The lateral arms of the parallelogram are formed by inclined rocker arms pivotedto the lower base portion. The rake which jformsthe upper member of the structureismountedupon these rocker arms and is capable of a reciprocatory motion independent of an oscillatory motion which is imparted tothe rocker arms. Bycombining these two motions the rake can be made to travel in an orbital path. Means is provided for allowing the inclined rocker arms to remain stationary ,inthei'r srinn-rin on oonvnvnn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 28, 15212.

is parallelto the trough or conveying Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

Serial No. 686,782.

lowermost positions during the conveying stroke of the rake, so that during such stroke the rake will travel parallel to the trough and close enough to the same to efliciently convey or stir the material.

The preferred form of the invention is embodied in the accompanying drawings, but as will be seen, various modifications can bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. i

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of aportion of a conveyerconstructed in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, Fig. 3 is an end view of the conveyer taken in direction indicated by the arrow in Fig- 1, Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of the conveyer showing a different style of mounting the rake, and, Fig; 5 is a side elevation of a conveyer providedwith a modified form of the raising andlowering means. 1

Throughout theseseveral views like reference characters designate corresponding parts.

Referring to the first three figures of the drawings 1 indicates a stationary trough, table-or hearth adapted to hold the material to be manipulated by a rake 2. The construction ofthis rake may vary to suit difierent requirements, but in the present case it consists of a framework 3 provided with transversely depending blades 1. The rake structure is supported by cross pieces :5 car rying rails '6 (Fig. 3), which engage guide wheels 7 preferably of the flanged type; These wheels are rotatably connected to the inclined rocker arms 8 pivoted at points 9 to the base ofthe structure, the oppositely disposed arms beingconnected by tie-rods 8*. Inorder to limit the downward movement of the arms 8 a link or connecting rod 10 is provided which is pivotally connected to each set of rocker arms to tie them'together into a unitary structure. stop 11 is engaged by a shoulder 12 on the rod to limit its longitudinal movement and hence the downward movement of the rocker arms. A spring 18 is preferably provided on the rod to the rear of the shoulder 12 to absorb the shock when the downward movement of the rocker arms is checked. Any suitable means may be employed to reciprocate the rake, but, preferably, and as illustrated,.a crank arm 14; is used, driven by means of gear 15 and pivotally connected at its working end to a bracket 16 applied at any convenient point to the frame 3 of the rake. Means are provided for raising and lowering the rake in timed relation to the reciprocation thereof. This means preferably takes the form of an eccentric rod 17, carrying strc p 18 which engages the bushing 19 on the shaft 20 to which the gear 15 is secured.

The rod'17 is connected to one of the pivoted rocker arms such as at 21, a slot 22 being provided at the connection for the purpose hereinafter set forth. A shock absorbing spring 23 is preferably provided'to furnish the necessary resilience. at the connection. Motion is transmitted to the crank a'rm '14 and the eccentric rod 17 through the gear 15 which is driven by means of pinion 24;.on the power driven shaft 25' It will thus be seen that the operation of the device will be as follows: A reciprocatory motion is transmitted through the gear 15 and crank arm 14: to the rake, which reciprocates freely on the guide wheels 7 The eccentric bushing 18 is so disposed with respect to the joint where the crank arm 14; is connected to the gear 15, that while the crank arm 14: is moving from left to right (Fig. 2) causing the rake to make its conveying stroke, the eccentric rod 16 is moving downwardly. It is desired however that during the entire conveying stroke of the rake the rocker arms will be allowed to re main stationary in their lowest position, thus permitting the rake to travel in close proximity to the trough and parallel thereto throughout such conveying stroke. The

slot. 22 in the eccentric rod is'provided for this purpose. It permits the necessary lost motion so that the downward stroke ofthe eccentric rod (which takes place during the conveying stroke of the rake) has no efl'ect upon the rocker arms to alter the position of the rake relative to the trough. When the conveying stroke is completed however and the return or nonconveying stroke commences, the eccentric rod 17 has moved upward sufliciently to cause shoulder 26'to engage stud 21. The eccentric rod will then act on the rocker arms to cause them to make one oscillation while the rake is making its return or nonconveying stroke. Such an oscillation of the rocker arms will produce a vertical reciprocation of the rake, and this motion combined with the longitudinal rezciprocation will cause the rake to travel back to its starting point in a circumferential or v orbital path. It will therefore be lifted over the conveyedmaterial so as not to inter- 5 ed to permit said rock arms to remain at fere with the same.

It will be noted that the power needed to oscillate the rocker arms need be applied only at one point as the connecting rods 10 serve to unite the rocker arms into a unitary structure, so that any force applied to one I part, of the structure will be transmitted equally tofthe remaining parts. In order to partly counterbalance the moving parts to facilitate the lifting of such parts a weight 27 is provided.

The modification shown in Fig. 4 is operated uponth'e same principle as the-device just described, the difference residing in the fact that the rails and guide wheels are interchanged. In'this case therails are supported by the rocker arms 8' and the guide wheels 7 carried by the rake frame.v The rails therefore in this case form a rising and falling track upon "which the wheeled rake is mounted. In this modification the counterbalancing weight, -27" acts directly upon the track6.' i

Fig. 5 discloses a further modification showing a different method of imparting the o l to y m ti n to he rocke arms In this modification the or-iginal construction is used i, e. the wheels are carried bythie rocker arms and the rake is mounted on the wheels, Referring to the figure, 28 is'a carndriven by any suitable {means which are not shown. This cam imparts an .oscillatorymotion to a rocker arm 29 pivoted at toa stationary part of the structure and carries the-cam roller 3 hich en ag the m .A l nk 3 imparts the oscillatory moti n, from th arm 29 to the rocker arms .8 which support the rake, the several rocker arms 8 bei ,con: ed y tudinal. nks ees wi -.15

T u it is apparen t t v rio s" me n may be used to impart to the various elements of theapparatus the necessary motions to produce the'desired orbitalmotion of therake, therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the use of anypar-ticular means.

2. In a stirrer or conveyer, a support co pr s ng tory r k arms, mans 0114 necting said rock arms'to cause the same to oscillate in unison, a rake mounted 'on said support for longitudinal reciprocation independent of the support, means toreciprocate the rake, means to impart a complete oscillation to the rock arms .during'the' non-conf veyingstroke of the rake, said meansadaptrest in their lowermost position duringthe conveying stroke of the rake, and means to resiliently check the downward .rnovement of the rock arms and to hold said rock arms in their lowermost position during thu said conveying stroke of the rake,

3. In a stirrer or conveyor, a support comprising oscillatory rock arms, means connecting said rock arms to cause the same to oscillate in unison, a rake mounted on said support for longitudinal reciprocation independent of the support, a rotary member, a connection between the rake and said rotary member whereby the latter reciprocates the rake, support actuating means connecting said rotary member with said support,- a slotted connection between said means and said support whereby the rock arms are raised and lowered during the nonconveying stroke of the rake and are per- DAVID J. NEVILL.

Witnesses:

MARGARET l/V. HARrIsoN, BURT STEARNS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0." 

